Customer Reviews

Marathon

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Often ignored by critics and record stores alike, Saga is a greatly underated band who deserves more credit and is certainly worth the time searching for. However, that being said, this latest release is not one of their finest. After the release of two of their best ever (Full Circle, and House of Cards) it seems the Canadian rockers slipped into a creative slump and re-hashed previous material. It's good, but not what we've come to expect. And what a dissapointing conclusion to the years-spanning Chapters rock-opera. Very anti-climactic! Still, if your a fan, it's not terrible and worthy of inclusion in your collection. If you're just getting acquainted, however, may I suggest Defining Moments, Vol 1 or the previous mentioned albums as a good intro.

Personally, (unlike most opinions here) I feel this album trumps House of Cards easily. Its much stronger in the 'hooks' department, and is far more accessible to folks who have no previous knowledge of Saga. I, for one, like the way the vocals are produced... Michael can get a bit too melodramatic sometimes on Saga's other current releases, and he has a much more contemporary sound on this album. Also, when Ian gets too much exposure, he tends to date the sound back into the hair-band era. I like when he is more subtle in his technique. This is my favorite Saga album of the modern era.

Saga,once again is proving it's the hardest working band in the world.After all this years i'm still amazed at all the great music they keep making.
With more chapters to add to the continuing saga,Streets Of Gold (Chapter 14) ,You Know I Know (Chapter 12) and Worlds Apart (Chapter 16)i know we are all in for a treat if you're a fan well,
you know what i'm talking about if you're not a fan then this along with full circle,house of cards,silent knight would be a good way to start listening to saga, trus me you wont regret it.
Saga is the best progresive band out there...

I don't write many reviews for Amazon, mostly because I'm kind of lazy and others have already written something close to what I would have written. But Saga's Marathon is one of those CDs in my collection that I think deserves better than what I'm reading here in the reviews. I have most of Saga's catalog and I can say without hesitation this is my favorite. Marathon is the most consistently good Saga CD. From start to finish there isn't a weak track (except for maybe Blind Side of Your Heart, which is a little too sweet for my taste). Now I like House of Cards and Full Circle, supposedly two of Saga's "best" albums, but both have some slower mellow songs that simply do nothing for me. I guess I'm one of those Saga fans that like it best when they stretch out and rock. And that's what Marathon does for the most part. Even the slower songs have the tension and mood of the rockers. In the end it all comes down to personal taste. No two Saga albums are alike. When you say one is your favorite, you're making a bold statement about your musical taste. Well, Marathon is my favorite. No disrespect to your favorite Saga CD, but this is the Saga album that goes with me to the fabled desert island.

I will add I didn't immediately like Marathon. Nothing about it really grabbed me at first. But I gave it some time and a few more listens and it finally clicked. Streets of Gold was the first track that hooked me and then everything else fell into place. As of this writing, the last 5 tracks on Marathon are my current favorites. I can listen to those over and over.

So what makes Marathon stand out to me? For me, it's the balance between guitar and keyboards. Some Saga albums go too far with one or the other, sometimes in the same song. It's either over-the-top guitar self-pleasure or keyboards with extra cheese. But here they seem to be so well-mixed and composed. I've never heard them play and sound so well together, consistently, from song to song on one entire CD. And of course the album cover is awesome. I mean, c'mon, a flying man-bug coming right at you! That rocks! :-)

This album is not the best from the new batch of Saga (Full Circle, Network, House of Cards). It is a must buy for hardcore fans, for new listeners who want to hear the newer albums of Saga go for 'Network' .

Not the bands best work but better, in my opinion, than PLEASURE AND THE PAIN, HOUSE OF CARDS, and the weak STEEL UMBRELLAS. Not as progressive as early work but very enjoyable. Also try GENERATION 13 a 90's concept album that is fantastic.

Saga has been, since 1980 or so, one of my favorite bands. They still are. But "Marathon" won't be one of the CDs that makes it into regular rotation on my jukebox. There are a couple promising songs here - the title track among them - and even a little acoustic guitar that adds a texture not seen often in Saga recordings. But between the overly simplistic lyrics and the very flat production characteristics of this disc, this is not one of the group's best efforts. This project was, according to the liner notes, done entirely by the band - engineering, mixing, etc. - and the lack of an outside influence is apparent. Michael Sadler's voice seems far too "covered up" by unneeded backing vocals, the keyboard work is not up to the standard of even recent recordings such as "Full Circle," and Ian's guitar work is less than what we've come to expect. Points are to be given for the CD artwork, however, and for the band still doing what they love to do after 27 years or so. The collective body of work is exemplary, and a song or two from this one make it into the "listen to it" pile. All that said, here's hoping Saga makes a North American appearance or two now that the European tour has ended....

This cd starts off with a solid track Marathon. The next really good song is breathing lessons( sort of a ballad). The first great track is Streets of Gold which is very much in the vein of the other chapter song( musiccally a really excellent song). The Blind side of my heart is another excellent ballad type song. You know I know is another chapter song which is excellent. Rise and Shine is the single and a good song a little different for a Saga song. Overall this cd is pretty heavy somewhat like full circle but different. The cd isn't perfect sometimes it get bogged down with lil friend sam voices like at the start of too deep(which gets better the farther you get into the song). It has some really good material on it, but also takes few listens to get used to the cd. It's heavier than other cd's but also has some softer material on it.

I'm not quite sure why others have given this CD such bad reviews: this SAGA album is almost as good as "House of Cards", and is way better than "Full Circle" (which I find completely unlistenable). All but one or two tracks on this one are very good, I've found myself listening to it over and over in the car.